BA179 [LHR-JFK, 24 Aug, B77W G-STBB] Emergency landing at Shannon
Aug 25, 2019, 1:00 am
#16
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Chelsea
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 1,227
Will post more later today when I have some rest
When flight landed in LGW, virtually no pax had been rebooked, no rebooking assistance was available and no information.
I give very high marks to the crew for handling the inflight emergency and the way the pilot spoke to pax around 23:00 in the departures lounge at SNN, but the ground staff, operations and rebooking fell extremely short.
When flight landed in LGW, virtually no pax had been rebooked, no rebooking assistance was available and no information.
I give very high marks to the crew for handling the inflight emergency and the way the pilot spoke to pax around 23:00 in the departures lounge at SNN, but the ground staff, operations and rebooking fell extremely short.
Aug 26, 2019, 10:11 am
#17
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2001
Posts: 592
Huge thanks to the BA experts who jumped in with advice here. This is the best of Flyertalk. Thank you.
Post script:
1) The fact that BA operations left their flight crew hanging out to dry in Shannon with no information was awful. That crew was trying to do their best for their passengers and for BA, but they needed support from the home office.
2) The support at LGW was atrocious. Virtually no one had been rebooked and no rebooking assistance was available. We were told that we would receive an email or SMS with rebooking information (nearly 2 days later, I have nor received any such SMS or email and MMB never showed rerouting information).
3) US reservations line had a message that: due to high call volume, they could not take my call, so please visit the website (and then the line was disconnected).
4) The three people who had been sent from LHR to hand out hotel vouchers had a stack of EU261 materials, but refused to give them to pax saying, "No, that is only if things go really wrong."
5) Finally got in a cab at 3:34 am at LGW and called the UK reservations line. I was on hold for 1 hour 5 minutes (the time it took me to get to the hotel at LHR, drop off my family, get back in the cab, go to T5, wait in the CW queue and get to an agent, at which point I disconnected). The hold message referenced bad weather in the UK (seemed to be a nice clear night to me).
6) At T5 at 4:40 am, I finally got the first piece of good news from a check-in agent: I actually had been rebooked for a 9am VS flight in Upper Class (business), tickets had already been endorsed and reissued. This might be the most interesting data point for all of you since there is apparently a willingness to rebook on competitors.
However, since I only found out about my rebooking by pure accident (or self-initiative) and an in-person visit to T5 and was never notified by BA, I am wondering what would have happened if I missed that Virgin flight while waiting for notification from BA. I expect that the overwhelming majority of people would have gone to the hotel as directed and fallen asleep.
I realize that reservations was overwhelmed with people affected by the strike, but there has to be a way to prioritize people who are currently travelling or to have reservations staff at LGW when we landed (they sent some other staff). Finally, the fact that BA did not respond to any pax on twitter is not a good look.
Post script:
1) The fact that BA operations left their flight crew hanging out to dry in Shannon with no information was awful. That crew was trying to do their best for their passengers and for BA, but they needed support from the home office.
2) The support at LGW was atrocious. Virtually no one had been rebooked and no rebooking assistance was available. We were told that we would receive an email or SMS with rebooking information (nearly 2 days later, I have nor received any such SMS or email and MMB never showed rerouting information).
3) US reservations line had a message that: due to high call volume, they could not take my call, so please visit the website (and then the line was disconnected).
4) The three people who had been sent from LHR to hand out hotel vouchers had a stack of EU261 materials, but refused to give them to pax saying, "No, that is only if things go really wrong."
5) Finally got in a cab at 3:34 am at LGW and called the UK reservations line. I was on hold for 1 hour 5 minutes (the time it took me to get to the hotel at LHR, drop off my family, get back in the cab, go to T5, wait in the CW queue and get to an agent, at which point I disconnected). The hold message referenced bad weather in the UK (seemed to be a nice clear night to me).
6) At T5 at 4:40 am, I finally got the first piece of good news from a check-in agent: I actually had been rebooked for a 9am VS flight in Upper Class (business), tickets had already been endorsed and reissued. This might be the most interesting data point for all of you since there is apparently a willingness to rebook on competitors.
However, since I only found out about my rebooking by pure accident (or self-initiative) and an in-person visit to T5 and was never notified by BA, I am wondering what would have happened if I missed that Virgin flight while waiting for notification from BA. I expect that the overwhelming majority of people would have gone to the hotel as directed and fallen asleep.
I realize that reservations was overwhelmed with people affected by the strike, but there has to be a way to prioritize people who are currently travelling or to have reservations staff at LGW when we landed (they sent some other staff). Finally, the fact that BA did not respond to any pax on twitter is not a good look.
Last edited by J S; Aug 26, 2019 at 10:34 am
Aug 26, 2019, 10:49 am
#18
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold; Flying Blue Life Platinum; LH Sen.; Hilton Diamond; Kemal Kebabs Prized Customer
Posts: 63,776
6) At T5 at 4:40 am, I finally got the first piece of good news from a check-in agent: I actually had been rebooked for a 9am VS flight in Upper Class (business), tickets had already been endorsed and reissued. This might be the most interesting data point for all of you since there is apparently a willingness to rebook on competitors.
However, since I only found out about my rebooking by pure accident (or self-initiative) and an in-person visit to T5 and was never notified by BA, I am wondering what would have happened if I missed that Virgin flight while waiting for notification from BA. I expect that the overwhelming majority of people would have gone to the hotel as directed and fallen asleep.
However, since I only found out about my rebooking by pure accident (or self-initiative) and an in-person visit to T5 and was never notified by BA, I am wondering what would have happened if I missed that Virgin flight while waiting for notification from BA. I expect that the overwhelming majority of people would have gone to the hotel as directed and fallen asleep.
Rebooking on to Virgin is actually standard practice, and has been for at least 15 years. My only travels on Virgin Atlantic (with one exception) have been because BA have sent me to them.
Thank you very much for sharing the outcome, it doesn't always happen for some reason, and others can learn from your experiences.
Aug 27, 2019, 4:31 am
#19
Join Date: Oct 2013
Programs: BA Gold, VS Gold, IHG Platinum, Hilton Gold, Hertz Presidents Circle.
Posts: 1,447
Will post more later today when I have some rest, but yes, we went to LGW. The a/c landed heavy even after dumping fuel. LHR was willing to let the plane land until 1am, but due to the checks required after landing over weight, we didn't depart SNN until close to 1am, so they sent the plane to LGW, then shipped us all to LHR (although no coaches had been arranged). Oh, and when we landed at LGW, the plane was so heavy in the tail relative to the forward sections, they would not let the pax off until they had unloaded cargo from the rear to prevent the plane from tipping back on its tail.
When flight landed in LGW, virtually no pax had been rebooked, no rebooking assistance was available and no information.
I give very high marks to the crew for handling the inflight emergency and the way the pilot spoke to pax around 23:00 in the departures lounge at SNN, but the ground staff, operations and rebooking fell extremely short.
When flight landed in LGW, virtually no pax had been rebooked, no rebooking assistance was available and no information.
I give very high marks to the crew for handling the inflight emergency and the way the pilot spoke to pax around 23:00 in the departures lounge at SNN, but the ground staff, operations and rebooking fell extremely short.